Kings to name interim coach

The Sydney Kings are expected to name former NBA assistant coach Joe Connelly as an interim replacement for sacked mentor Damian Cotter.

Cotter's axing from the slumping NBL glamour team on Saturday night drew criticism from current and former players including Australian great Shane Heal, who accused chairman Phil Hudson of lacking leadership and vision since the Kings' 2010 re-entry to the league.

NBA star Bogut also described the firing as a "horrible decision", while Kings import star Childress said it was "extremely disappointing".

The Kings lost 16 of their last 19 games under Cotter's guidance, including Thursday's 96-90 defeat by Illawarra that consigned them to outright last.

With just over half the season remaining, management acted in a bid to resurrect the slumping campaign and mount a late finals push.

"Damian is a quality individual with great commitment and character, however with the Kings languishing at the bottom of the NBL ladder with a 3-9 record, the club decided a change now was in the best interest of both the club and Damian," the Kings said in a statement.

Connelly's likely appointment comes with a strong resume, having previously mentored a number of NBA stars, including John Wall and Carmelo Anthony.

The former Washington Wizards assistant was brought to the club just two weeks ago in a specialist role.

Meanwhile, Hawks centre AJ Ogilvy has been cleared of a knee injury following Saturday's impressive 108-70 rout of Townsville.

Ogilvy didn't return after limping off in the second half but not before impressively racking up a game-high 23 points to go with six rebounds and two blocks in under 17 minutes.

It completed a remarkable round for the 27-year-old, who also picked up 23 points and 10 boards against the Kings, who had import guard Marcus Thornton cop having a beer poured on him by a fan during the match.

Ladder leaders Melbourne snapped their three-game losing streak with a tense 66-63 win over Townsville despite a season-low two points from MVP candidate Chris Goulding, while Perth stayed one spot behind them after a similarly close 86-80 victory over New Zealand.

In the only other game of the round, Jerome Randle netted a competition-high 28 points in Adelaide's 88-83 win over Cairns at the Snakepit.